Hard to Forget (Naegi x Kirigiri)
by DJBoost
Summary: A Naegi x Kirigiri ship-fic. Nothing too mature. I loooooove this pairing because of all the adorable scenarios it presents. First piece of writing on this site, hope I did well! Criticism of all kinds is welcome.
About a year and a half had passed since the disastrous events at Hope's Peak Academy brought Naegi Makoto and Kyoko Kirigiri together. They, along with four other brave high schoolers, defeated the forces of despair that ravaged Japan for the two years that they lived there. Those six people now live on all corners of the globe now: Togami and Fukawa finally got together and moved to Russia, Aoi became a champion swimmer in Britain, and Hagakure moved to California and became a popular psychic medium.

Naegi and Kirigiri, however, took a rather…different approach. After they left Hope's Peak, they fell in love and decided to move to America together. They were able to steal a small boat and get to mainland China, where they were able to buy a house in New Jersey and learned a fair amount of English. Now, Naegi was looking down at his new life – two plane tickets into LaGuardia Airport.

Kirigiri was getting ready for the flight in the other room, leaving Naegi to his own devices. He stared up at the mud-colored ceiling of the airport hotel, and began pondering what he would do with his new life.

"Maybe I can get a job in advertising," he mused out loud. "That might be a good fit for me…"

"I'm ready to leave," announced Kirigiri from the other room. "Are you all packed?"

"Yep. Just need to put my shoes on," Naegi replied.

"Can you believe we're finally getting a fresh start? Feels like ages since life has actually been normal."

"I know. We can finally put that disaster behind us," said Naegi, looking out the window at the afternoon sun.

At the mention of the disaster, Kirigiri blanched and turned away, grabbing her bags and heading for the door.

"I'll meet you at the front desk," she said, a dose of fear and sadness in her voice.

"Damn it," Naegi said to himself. "Every time I mention that she has one of those flashbacks." He grabbed his bags and left, clutching the plane tickets harder than ever.

Kirigiri sat at the gate, waiting for the plane. It had landed, but was taking an inordinately long time to empty out and have the new flight board. Something about ice on the windows. Naegi had gone to get a newspaper, leaving her to watch the bags. She saw a young girl across the terminal with a hairstyle almost identical to Sayaka's. This made the memories all come flooding back: Sayaka's death, the executions, Celeste betraying Yamada, her saving Naegi and realizing how nice he was, the final showdown with Enoshima, and their escape from Japan. The slightest thought of any of it turned her stomach. She was the one who told Naegi that they needed to get out of Japan instead of living there as survivors. She needed to leave it all behind. And he went along with it.

She didn't deserve him.

A single tear fell from her eye, staining her glove that hid her burn scars.

She couldn't let Naegi see her like this; he'd blame himself for it. She righted herself and wiped the residual tears out of her eyes, focusing on the television above the gate. The news reporter was talking about the antics of the British prime minister. That should take her mind off things. At that moment, Naegi rounded the corner with his newspaper, a tired but happy look on his face as their eyes met.

And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Kirigiri smiled.

"It's taking them too long to take off," said Naegi, impatiently tapping his foot.

"Airplanes are complicated machines. You wouldn't want the wheels falling off into the sea because they wanted to get off the ground early, would you?"

"I suppose. But it's still a long time."

"Yeah…I know."

Naegi watched as Kirigiri picked up the SkyMall magazine from the seat pocket and began to peruse it. How in the nine hells did he ever wind up with such a beautiful, smart woman? He was certainly no bastion of intelligence himself, and he looked average for his age. Maybe the old phrase "opposites attract" rings more true than he thought. Or maybe it was just the circumstances under which they met and fell in love. He remembered it like it was yesterday; it was hard to forget. They had just gotten out of the school and were camped out in an abandoned industrial building. Naegi had gotten up in the middle of the night to get some water, and saw Kirigiri pacing the halls.

"Kirigiri-san…what are you doing awake at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

"I can't stop thinking about all that's happened…all those dead people…most of them didn't deserve it."

"But Enoshima is dead now…and those that were innocent are now in the afterlife having a good time."

"I know…but what about my dad?"

"He's in the afterlife too."

"But is he disappointed with me because I want to escape from here instead of facing the despair?"

"No. He's more proud than he's ever been."

Kirigiri finally cracked and fell into Naegi's chest, sobbing.

"Oh, Naegi-kun…I'm so sorry that I wasn't better to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I was distant and cold when we were at Hope's Peak. I should have been nicer to you."

"But…Kirigiri-san…I respected and liked you just fine. You weren't doing any-"

Kirigiri pulled back from Naegi, and looked him squarely in the eyes.

"I LOVE YOU!"

Naegi stumbled back a little, the shock washing over him like an electrified tidal wave.

"Kirigiri-san…why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It would have only screwed things up and created more tension. It would have probably gotten us both killed.

Naegi took a moment to think, and then looked back at Kirigiri. She was visibly shaken, her eyes red with tears and her hair tossed about all over the place. She clearly needed him. But could he really love her back? Would he have to break her heart? He took stock of his memories, remembering all of the times that they had been together. He remembered how she saved him from Ikusaba Mukuro. He remembered how she stuck up for him in the Classroom Trials.

But mostly, he remembered how she saved him, some ordinary nobody, from death at the hands of Monobear.

He remembered how he felt such a feeling of respect and admiration as they sat in the garbage chute, recovering from their falls and planning their escape.

And then he remembered one more thing.

"Kirigiri-san…"

"Yes?"

"I think I love you too."

She stopped for a moment, her eyes dropping to the floor. The tears continued to fall, but she was smiling now. She sat down on the floor next to him and put her hand on the side of his face.

"Y-you do?"

"You are the only one who really respects me and knows my strengths. You are the only one who was brave enough to save me. I admire your bravery and selflessness. And from those feelings…I think I have found that I love you."

Their eyes locked. Naegi smiled and put his arm around her back, and they kissed. They stayed up and talked about nothing for a few more hours, and slept in each other's arms.

Suddenly, Naegi snapped out of his memories and realized he was still on the plane. Kirigiri was still reading the magazine. The pilot's voice came on over the PA to say that they were taking off soon. Kirigiri tapped his shoulder and said "Look, Naegi! A device that reseals potato chip bags! We'd never need those annoying clips again!"

Naegi cracked a smile and put his arm around her as the plane began to taxi down the runway.

The flight was hellishly long, but they made it to New York at last. They had both fallen asleep somewhere over California, but they woke up about fifteen minutes before the plane landed. Naegi was the first to wake up; he shook Kirigiri awake so that she could see the New York skyline. It wasn't as high-tech as a city like Tokyo, but it felt much larger. The buildings were taller and wider, and the color palette was a little more subdued, with greys and browns dominating the landscape. But it was a nice-looking city. They could both get very good work here.

"Where do you think you'll apply for work, Kiri?"

"I might go for a job at the police department. I hear the New York police are very respected.

"That would suit you perfectly. I might try for a job in advertising.

"That would be good for you, too. You're so optimistic and sunny that people would have to buy whatever you were selling."

Naegi mulled this over as they got their bags and walked towards the PATH terminal. Several men in crisply pressed suits brushed past, talking rapidly into cell phones about important business plans. Families came in and out of the trains in the terminal, either on their way to a much-needed vacation or returning from one. The sea of humanity was disorienting, and Kirigiri was visibly claustrophobic. But they picked their way through the crowd and made it to their train.

"Glad we're through those god-awful crowds," said Kirigiri.

"Yeah. Did you see the fat guy in the flower-pattern shirt? I needed to see that like I needed a knife in my chest. Oh Jesus, I'm sorry, Kiri. I didn't mean to-"

"No. It's fine. I didn't have a flashback.

"Thank god."

They sat in silence for the rest of the train ride.

The train arrived in West Orange about a half-hour later. Kirigiri used her cell phone to find their apartment, a lovely little place on Belvedere Avenue. Naegi was clearly whipped from jet lag, so he went off to bed. Kirigiri unpacked a little bit, and investigated an IKEA catalog so that they could get some furniture into their house. Naegi came into the front room and sat down at the other end of the dining room table.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes. It's a lovely neighborhood."

"What kind of furniture are you looking at?"

"Oh, essentials. Tables, chairs, that kind of thing."

Naegi looked out the window into the summer sunset, a pensive look working its way across his face.

"I should go to bed too," said Kirigiri. "I'm feeling a bit tired myself."

"Alright then."

Kirigiri shuffled off towards the bedroom, leaving Naegi to his thoughts once more. They'd come so far and done so much together. But now it was over. They'd have to go back to normal lives. Get jobs. Become functioning members of society. Could he handle such a shift? Would there be any sort of mental weirdness that would come from his past? And what about Kirigiri? Would she have to take a medication to keep her flashbacks from overwhelming her? Could they stay together in a new country? All of these questions flooded his mind as he watched the neighborhood live its life: a kid skateboarding down the sidewalk, leaves waving overhead in the summer breeze. At that moment, he heard an odd sound coming from the bedroom. What was Kirigiri doing? He got up to investigate it, dread filling him.

He entered the bedroom quietly, as not to disturb any proceedings. He saw Kirigiri standing near the window, crying into her hands.

"Kiri…what's wrong?"

"I can't forget about it, Naegi. I'll never be able to forget about it."

"What do you mean?"

"That disaster will always haunt me. I'll never forget how those people died. They were dishonored and murdered. And I couldn't help them. I voted that they be killed."

"It wasn't your fault. You were only doing what you had to do."

"But I didn't have to do it. I should have broken into Monobear's quarters way earlier and gotten that key."

"We were all under pressure. You weren't thinking straight.

"I know, Naegi. And I hate myself for it."

Naegi turned her around, a hard look in his eyes.

"Kyoko Kirigiri. You listen to me and you listen well. Without you, everyone else would have died and only one person would have been able to survive. The despair might have been able to spread to the rest of the world. But your skills saved us all. If you hadn't had the sense to steal Monobear's key and save me from Mukuro, I would be a dead man, and who knows what would have happened next? If you hadn't saved me from the garbage chute, I would have died painfully and alone.

Kirigiri dropped her eyes down and paused for a moment. She then buried her head in his chest.

"You have the strength to do all this. You came all the way from Japan to America and are finding a new life. You have the strength to forget about what happened. I have, and I'm not nearly as strong as you are."

"I know I can do it. But how do I do it?"

"Think about your new life. Think about how happy we'll be living together. Think about how we've got each other, and nobody can take that from us no matter what."

Kirigiri stopped crying and turned away from Naegi.

"I guess you're right."

Naegi put his arms around her, and they stood embraced for what seemed like an eternity.

"You might seem like an optimistic fool to anyone else," said Kirigiri, "but you'll always be my Super High School Level Hope."

"And that's all I need to be happy," said Naegi, holding her tighter.

-end-


End file.
